PHILADELPHIA, USA – Jamaica College head coach Neil Harrison has expressed “disappointment” over the disqualification of the school’s 4x800m team from Friday’s final of the event at the 127th Penn Relays at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

The organisers upheld a protest from a number of schools that Nicholas Power, who transferred from Calabar to attend Jamaica College, was not eligible for the Penn Relays as he was not eligible the ISSA Boys Championships.

READ: #PennRelays: JC could be disqualified for ineligible runner

Power was part of the Jamaica College team that had run the fastest time in the prelims on Thursday morning, clocking 7:49.29, but were later disqualified leaving just Kingston College and St Elizabeth Technical as Jamaica-based schools to contest the final.

“We thought he was eligible to compete,” Harrison said, citing the ISSA rule that students in 12th grade need to have four passes in external exams to be eligible. “He had two CXC subjects and two City and Guild.”

He said Power was ruled ineligible for Champs by ISSA as they said the City and Guild were submitted late.

Harrison reasoned that while the subjects were late for Champs, they should have been able to have him eligible for the Penn Relays.

-Paul A Reid